Its time I upgrade my PC....

E_G_Man

E_G_Man

CAGiversary!
I built my PC about 4 years ago. She has treated me well, but it is time for an upgrade. However I use the term upgrade lightly since I am replacing a majority of the components. I have made a few small changes to the hardware over the years but nothing major. Im on a budget of about $500, give or take. So to make ends meet I am reusing my case, hard drives, sound card and optical drives. I am hoping that some of you could look over my proposed upgrades and pick them apart and give some suggestions. Lets get started.

Video Card: ATI X1950XT $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067

CPU: AMD64 x 2 5400+ $140
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3044668&CatId=2328

MoBo: Asus M2V $80
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2273338&CatId=2320
As far as the Mobo goes I need one with dual IDE headers since I am reusing my hard drives.

Power Supply: Xion PowerReal 600W $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817190007

Memory: I was thinking either 2 512 sticks of Ultra 5300 $35
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2485558&Sku=ULT40049#detailspecs
or
One stick of Ultra 1024MB PC4200 $40
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1071038&Sku=ULT31690


That is what I have come up with. I still need to find a nice CPU fan/heatsink so any suggestions there would be great (but try to keep my budget in mind). I in no way feel a loyalty to any brands (such as Intel vs AMD and Nvidia vs ATI) so feel free to suggest a different brand. I like to do my shopping through NewEgg and TigerDirect but I will keep an open mind to other resellers that are trust worthy. Any constructive comments/ suggestions about my build would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Some good picks... but I'd change the CPU, PS, and memory.

2Gb of memory, DDR2 800, dual channel... MUCH better memory for only $40 more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

That CPU doesn't have a cooler which is why it's so cheap. You might wanna look at something a bit slower and cheaper. I only have a X2 3800+ and it works great.

As for the power supply, I usually recommend that people stick with some of the better known brands. I heard this was a great power supply.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182017

I know it'll cost you more than you wanted to spend but it's worth considering.
 
[quote name='E_G_Man']I do plan on upgrading to 2 gigs eventually. Is Wintec a decent brand?[/QUOTE]
If you don't mind waiting for a rebate take Vinny's RAM instead.
 
I don't believe that mobo supports PCIx16, which your video card needs.

I think you could spend a little more on your mobo and get a really great one, also one that can support more memory, faster memory, and more storage space.
 
The mobo does support PCI Express 16x and I found it on NewEgg for $4 cheaper!!! But I am open to other board recomendations.

[quote name='Zoglog']I got my E6600 core 2 duo for $199. Well worth the price for the performance boost[/quote]
Hmm, Ill look into it.
 
I'f your re-doing the motherboard you really switch over to intel and the c2d. It's simply a much better processor
 
AMD might not be as good as Intel but its not far behind. Their AMD X2 series of processor's are really good and are overclockable. Intel Mobo's are expensive and so are there CPU's.
 
They're not that expensive and the c2d's are probably the best overclockers out there. The distance between Intel and AMD is actually fairly big, and Intel has agressive plans for over the next few years that are likely to completely bury AMD
 
The E4300 starts at like $130 I think. At stock, it's really not that great... but it can be OCed pretty far I hear so that'll help.

Check out Newegg, they have some combo deals going on now with motherboards. That's a good way to save some money if you can find a mobo combo that you like.
 
[quote name='E_G_Man']I am pondering the E6300... any thoughts?[/QUOTE]

If you can wait till July 22nd to upgrade your PC, you can opt for the E6550 for the same price as the E6300 (or E6320) right now. The E6550 will be run at a higher clock and FSB, plus will have 4MB L2 cache (E6300 has 2MB, E6320 has 4MB also). Get a LGA775 board for around $80, and a decent $50 500W PSU like Cooler Master, Rosewill, or Thermaltake, and the rest of the components like you've outlined before will be a good upgrade.
 
Alright here is where I am at now....
Proc: E6320 $166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015

MoBo: Abit IB9 LGA 775 $69
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2860608&CatId=1533#productresources


Video Card: ATI X1950XT $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102067

Memory: 2 Gig of Crucial
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Power Supply: Xion PowerReal 600W $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817190007

Will that memory work with that MoBo? Any other comments are welcome. Thank you for the input so far!
 
I posted this on a tech forums. This is what I'm building over the summer. One of the coolest thing about a computer is every single game is compatible with the Wiimote. You just need a Wiimote and a $10 bluetooth adapter from newegg. There is this free program called glovepie that configures the Wiimote to anything you want, so I could basically play a game like Oblivion with Wii controls.

CPU- Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Motherboard- Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

RAM- Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Video Card- Newegg.com - XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Extra Fans- Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Optical Drive- Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner - Retail

Case- Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Power Supply- Newegg.com - FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply - Retail

Hard Drive- (have, Samsung 160GB 7200rpm)

Speakers- headset for online play(have), tv speakers for normal

Monitor- 32" Westinghouse LCD(have)

Mouse- Logitech(have)

Keyboard- Logitech(have)

Operating System- Windows XP(have)

CD Drive- (have)

Misc. - Newegg.com - Rosewill RSD-CR104 USB 2.0 SD/MMC Card Reader - Retail

Games- Resident Evil 4, Oblivion and Call of Duty 2 to start.
 
[quote name='nyprimus4']I need to buy that Crucial RAM now before it goes OOS at newegg.[/QUOTE]

Heh, I just bought 2GB of that today.
 
My hard drive crapped out on me yesterday and it is time to upgrade my computer anyways. I'll be keeping my ATX tower case, my copy of Windows XP, sound card, ethernet card, USB card, and case fans. I'm thinking of getting:
-hard drive: around 80 gigs, nothing big.
-processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015
-motherboard: don't know yet
-memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565
-power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182017
-video card: don't know yet

As for hard drives, I just need to pay attention to the capacity and RPMs, yes? What, if anything, do I need to know about the interface? I had an 80-gig hard drive and it was large enough for my needs: internet, listen to and store my music, and play games.

As for the processor, people in this thread seem to like the Intel core 2 duos. What should I know about them? Any problems with this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015

As for the motherboard, I need to get an Intel motherboard with an LGA 775 socket for the above processor, yes? And I need to pay attention to what type of slot my future video card will need. And how much memory it can take and what kind. Any other considerations that I should keep in mind? What are the north and south bridges?

As for memory, these seem to be popular here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820146565
What does "SLI-ready" mean? I'm assuming that involves the video card.

Next up, the power supply. What determines the wattage that I need? The video card? What is "PFC?" What about connections?

Finally, the video card. All I know is that PCI Express x16 is the way to go. I don't know enough about Radeon or GeForce to care one way or the other. It would be nice, however, to be able to connect my old consoles to my monitor. Suggestions?

I know, loads of questions, but thanks in advance.
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']My hard drive crapped out on me yesterday and it is time to upgrade my computer anyways. I'll be keeping my ATX tower case, my copy of Windows XP, sound card, ethernet card, USB card, and case fans. I'm thinking of getting:
-hard drive: around 80 gigs, nothing big.
-processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015
-motherboard: don't know yet
-memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565
-power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182017
-video card: don't know yet[/QUOTE]

You said almost everything in your post, which is good that you're concern about what you're getting and attempt to understand them. But you did not include your price range for this entire upgrade, which is the biggest determining factor in the parts you can get. For now I'll treat you as a mid-range upgrade ($600 - $800). So far whatever you've picked, looks decent.

[quote name='Rusty Ghia']As for hard drives, I just need to pay attention to the capacity and RPMs, yes? What, if anything, do I need to know about the interface? I had an 80-gig hard drive and it was large enough for my needs: internet, listen to and store my music, and play games.[/QUOTE]

Most drives are 7200RPM now, you can't really buy the slower 5400RPM anymore. The ideal brand to get is Seagate because of their 5 year warranty as well as solid performance with their perpedicular technology (you can read it up on wikipedia). You also will be getting the SATA300 interface, which is the standard nowadays. Something like this will work for you, though you really want to get at least a 160GB, regardless of what you really need, and if the price is about 25 cents per gigabyte, then it's considered a decent deal.

[quote name='Rusty Ghia']As for the processor, people in this thread seem to like the Intel core 2 duos. What should I know about them? Any problems with this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015[/QUOTE]

There's nothing you really need to know about Core 2 Duos. They're fast, and they can overclock. Although overclocking is not recommended to novice, their default performance is already good for most usages like playing games. That particular processor is good choice, but if you can wait until July 22nd, Intel will have another price drop and for the same price you can get a faster CPU, the E6550.

[quote name='Rusty Ghia']As for the motherboard, I need to get an Intel motherboard with an LGA 775 socket for the above processor, yes? And I need to pay attention to what type of slot my future video card will need. And how much memory it can take and what kind. Any other considerations that I should keep in mind? What are the north and south bridges?[/QUOTE]

Motherboard is actually the hardest component to choose, because there are so many chipsets, and each chipset has so many different brands and models and features. Generally you need an LGA775 motherboard, so you got that. Most motherboards will come with PCIe X16, DDR2, gigabyte LAN, SATA, USB 2.0, 7.1 audio, and other stuff. It all comes down to how much you want to pay for a board. The more expensive a motherboard is, the more features and the better it looks, and performs better perhaps. Chipset can be a big decising factor in narrowing down a particular board. The newest Intel P35 chipset is more future proof, with support of upcoming Intel processor architects. nVidia 680i/650i are better for performance and overclocking, and Intel 965 chipset is your general friend that does the basic stuff that you need it to do, without the expensive price tag, but it's an older chipset so Intel is trying to phase it out by improving the P35 chipset.

Here are some boards that might fit your needs:
EVGA 122-CK-NF63-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
GIGABYTE GA-N650SLI-DS4 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI
ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 3.3)

Stick with known brands like Asus, Abit, Gigabyte, MSI, eVGA and you should be fine.

[quote name='Rusty Ghia']As for memory, these seem to be popular here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820146565
What does "SLI-ready" mean? I'm assuming that involves the video card.[/QUOTE]

I got those memory myself, they're really good for the price. Use coupon code EMC622DCRUC to get it down $10 more, for $59.99 after rebate. SLI ready is just saying it will be compatible with a dual video card setup. You probably don't have to worry about that.

[quote name='Rusty Ghia']Next up, the power supply. What determines the wattage that I need? The video card? What is "PFC?" What about connections?[/QUOTE]

Video card is a big factor in choosing your power supply. Generally the faster the video card (thus more expensive) will require you to get a better power supply. If you run just a single video card, such as the 8800GTS or GTX, then all you need is a good one like Corsair 620W for $150, or the one you already picked out if you're tight on budget and has something like a 7900GT for a video card.

So in theory, the more expensive your video card, or the faster your processor, the better the power supply you should get. But for your need so far, whatever you picked out in your post is perfectly fine, and doesn't empty your wallet.

[quote name='Rusty Ghia']Finally, the video card. All I know is that PCI Express x16 is the way to go. I don't know enough about Radeon or GeForce to care one way or the other. It would be nice, however, to be able to connect my old consoles to my monitor. Suggestions?[/QUOTE]

It really depends on the price you have reserved for video card. The more money you pay, the faster the card will be, and the smoother your gameplay will get. For a ~$150 range, you can easily get a nVidia 7900GT that will do you good for recent games. A ~$250 8800GTS will get you farther into the future with better support.
 
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']For the video card, I'm thinking this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127277

As for the motherboard, this look good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130098

And the hard drive?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136062

And this for the power supply?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817128006

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565[/QUOTE]


BFG 7900GS OC PCIe - $100 AR or $120 AR since you live near a Fry's.

That motherboard looks fine.

That HD is expensive for a 160GB. It's 37 cents per GB, which is far above the 25 cents per GB for a typical deal. Perhaps you should wait around this weekend for Fry's to come up with a good HD deal for your price range and need. I've seen 320GB HD for $59.99 out the door.

I would give a second thought and a third thought about this PSU. Though despite what most people will say, Rosewill (that you originally picked out) and their RP series are very decent PSU. They output stable power for a fraction of price of higher end PSU (review). Other PSU brands to consider are Enermax and Antec for your price range.

CPU and RAM looks good.
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']For the video card, I'm thinking this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127277

As for the motherboard, this look good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130098

And the hard drive?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136062

And this for the power supply?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817128006

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565[/QUOTE]


IF you are going to get a 7900 GS have you considered the BFG one at Fry's thats $99 AR. Its only 256MB, but I picked one up a week ago and its a solid card with good OC potential. You might get lucky and get one with a GT chip and unlock the extra pipelines in Rivaturner. The rebate ends on 6-30-07, so you'll have to act fast.

http://shop1.outpost.com/{+MNbL+ZaO...O63zKHV4Q**.node1?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 
For 4 and change I'm thinking about...

a good LG dvd/cd burner with lightscribe
western digital 160gb hdd
biostar mobo
evga 7600gt pci-e card
crucial ballistix 2gb ddr2 800 memory
amd athlon 64 x2 3600+
rosewill stallion series 450w psu
rosewill atx mid tower

The whole thing is OC'able to the extreme
 
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